Transparent Trailer Articulation View

ABSTRACT

A method for providing a panoramic view (152) of an environment behind a trailer (106) of a vehicle-trailer system (100). The method includes receiving a first image (133, 133b) from a rear trailer camera (132, 132b), a second image (133, 133c) from a right-side trailer camera (132, 132c), and a third image (133, 133d) from a left-side trailer camera (132, 132d). The method includes determining a panoramic view (152) based on the first image (133, 133b), the second image (133, 133c), and the third image (133, 133d). Additionally, the method includes determining a trailer angle (α) based on sensor system data (131) received from a sensor system (130). The method includes determining a viewing area (154) within the panoramic view (152) based on the trailer angle (α) and sending instructions (156) to a display (122) to display the viewing area (154).

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to a trailer imaging system that provides atransparent trailer articulation view of a rearward environment of atrailer attached to a tow vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Trailers are usually unpowered vehicles that are pulled by a powered towvehicle. A trailer may be a utility trailer, a popup camper, a traveltrailer, livestock trailer, flatbed trailer, enclosed car hauler, andboat trailer, among others. The tow vehicle may be a car, a crossover, atruck, a van, a sports-utility-vehicle (SUV), a recreational vehicle(RV), or any other vehicle configured to attach to the trailer and pullthe trailer. The trailer may be attached to a powered vehicle using atrailer hitch. A receiver hitch mounts on the tow vehicle and connectsto the trailer hitch to form a connection. The trailer hitch may be aball and socket, a fifth wheel and gooseneck, or a trailer jack. Otherattachment mechanisms may also be used. In addition to the mechanicalconnection between the trailer and the powered vehicle, in someexamples, the trailer is electrically connected to the tow vehicle. Assuch, the electrical connection allows the trailer to take the feed fromthe powered vehicle's rear light circuit, allowing the trailer to havetaillights, turn signals, and brake lights that are in sync with thelights of the powered vehicle.

Some of the challenges that face tow vehicle drivers is maneuvering thevehicle-trailer system, specifically in the rearward direction, whilenot being able to see behind the trailer. Therefore, it is desirable tohave a system that provides the driver with a panoramic view of therearward environment of the trailer.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure provides an example arrangement ofoperations for a method of providing a panoramic view of an environmentbehind a trailer of a vehicle-trailer system. The method includesreceiving, at data processing hardware, a first image from a reartrailer camera positioned on a rear portion of the trailer. The firstimage captures a rearward environment of the trailer. The methodincludes receiving, at the data processing hardware, a second image froma right-side trailer camera positioned on a right-side portion of thetrailer. The second image captures a right-side environment of thetrailer. The method includes receiving, at the data processing hardware,a third image from a left-side trailer camera positioned on a left-sideportion of the trailer. The third image captures a left-side environmentof the trailer. The method includes determining, at the data processinghardware, a panoramic view based on the first image, the second image,and the third image. In some examples, the method determines thepanoramic view by stitching the first image, the second image, and thethird image. Other methods of determining the panoramic view may also beused. The method 700 includes determining, at the data processinghardware, a trailer angle based on sensor system data received from asensor system. The trailer angle being an angle between a vehiclefore-aft axis and a trailer fore-aft axis. The method also includesdetermining, at the data processing hardware, a viewing area within thepanoramic view based on the trailer angle. The method includes sending,from the data processing hardware to a display in communication with thedata processing hardware, instructions to display the viewing area.

Implementations of disclosure may include one or more of the followingoptional features. In some implementations, the method also includesreceiving a fourth image from a rear vehicle camera positioned on a rearportion of a vehicle of the vehicle-trailer system. The fourth image133, 133 a captures and includes a trailer representation of thetrailer. The method may also include projecting the panoramic view orthe viewing area of the panoramic view within a boundary of the trailerrepresentation of the fourth image. Therefore, in some examples, theinstructions to display the viewing area of the panoramic view includedisplaying the viewing area of the panoramic view within the boundary ofthe trailer representation of the fourth image.

In some examples, the rear trailer camera, the right-side trailercamera, the left-side trailer camera, and the rear vehicle camera eachinclude a fisheye lens. The camera 132 may include other types ofcameras.

In some implementations, the method also includes receiving a driverinput via a user interface and adjusting the viewing area of thepanoramic view displayed on the display based on the driver input. Themethod may include receiving a driver input via a user interfaceindicative of a driver request to view the panoramic view and adjustingthe viewing area to include the panoramic view based on the driverinput.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a system that includes dataprocessing hardware and memory hardware in communication with the dataprocessing hardware. The memory hardware stores instructions that whenexecuted on the data processing hardware cause the data processinghardware to perform operations. These operations include the methoddescribed above.

The details of one or more implementations of the disclosure are setforth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Otheraspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the descriptionand drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a top view of an exemplary vehicle-trailer system having atow vehicle towing a trailer.

FIG. 1B is a top view of the exemplary vehicle-trailer system shown inFIG. 1A at a trailer angle between the tow vehicle and the trailer.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the exemplary vehicle-trailer system ofFIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of images captures by a rear trailer cameraand the side trailer cameras based on mounting location.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an exemplary representation of apanoramic view of the images shown in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are perspective views of exemplary representations of aviewing area of the panoramic view shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary representation of an imagecaptured by the rear vehicle camera with the panoramic view projectedwithin the boundaries of a trailer representation within the image.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an exemplary arrangement of operations fora method that generates a panoramic view of a rear environment of atrailer attached to a tow vehicle.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A tow vehicle, such as, but not limited to a car, a crossover, a truck,a van, a sports-utility-vehicle (SUV), and a recreational vehicle (RV)may be configured to tow a trailer. The tow vehicle connects to thetrailer by way of a trailer hitch. It may be difficult to driver thevehicle-trailer system in a rearward direction. Therefore, it isdesirable to have a system that provides the driver with a panoramicview of the rear and side of the trailer which allows the driver to havea wider range of motion because of the area the driver is able to see.

Referring to FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, in some implementations, avehicle-trailer system 100 includes a tow vehicle 102 attached to atrailer 106. The tow vehicle 102 includes a vehicle tow ball 104supported by a vehicle hitch bar 105. The vehicle tow ball 104 iscoupled to the trailer 106 by way of a trailer hitch coupler 108supported by a trailer hitch bar 109 of the trailer 106. The tow vehicle102 may include a drive system 110 that maneuvers the tow vehicle 102across a road surface based on drive commands having x, y, and zcomponents, for example. As shown, the drive system 110 includes a frontright wheel 112, 112 a, a front left wheel 112, 112 b, a rear rightwheel 112, 112 c, and a rear left wheel 112, 112 d. The drive system 110may include other wheel configurations as well. The drive system 110 mayalso include a brake system (not shown) that includes brakes associatedwith each wheel 112, 112 a-d, and an acceleration system (not shown)that is configured to adjust a speed and direction of the tow vehicle102. In addition, the drive system 110 may include a suspension system(not shown) that includes tires associates with each wheel 112, 112 a-d,tire air, springs, shock absorbers, and linkages that connect the towvehicle 102 to its wheels 112, 112 a-d and allows relative motionbetween the tow vehicle 102 and the wheels 112, 112 a-d.

The tow vehicle 102 may move across the road surface by variouscombinations of movements relative to three mutually perpendicular axesdefined by the tow vehicle 102: a transverse axis X_(V), a fore-aft axisY_(V), and a central vertical axis Z_(V). The transverse axis X_(V)extends between a right-side and a left-side of the tow vehicle 102. Aforward drive direction along the fore-aft axis Y_(V) is designated asFv, also referred to as a forward motion. In addition, an aft orrearward drive direction along the fore-aft direction Y_(V) isdesignated as R_(V), also referred to as rearward motion. In someexamples, the tow vehicle 102 includes a suspension system (not shown),which when adjusted causes the tow vehicle 102 to tilt about the X_(V)axis and or the Y_(V) axis, or move along the central vertical axisZ_(V).

Moreover, the trailer 106 follows the tow vehicle 102 across the roadsurface by various combinations of movements relative to three mutuallyperpendicular axes defined by the trailer 106: a trailer transverse axisX_(T), a trailer fore-aft axis Y_(T), and a trailer central verticalaxis Z_(T). The trailer transverse axis X_(T) extends between aright-side and a left-side of the trailer 106 along a trailer turningaxle 107. In some examples, the trailer 106 includes a front axle (notshown) and rear axle 107. In this case, the trailer transverse axisX_(T) extends between a right-side and a left-side of the trailer 106along a midpoint of the front and rear axle (i.e., a virtual turningaxle). A forward drive direction along the trailer fore-aft axis Y_(T)is designated as F_(T), also referred to as a forward motion. Inaddition, a trailer aft or rearward drive direction along the fore-aftdirection Y_(T) is designated as R_(T), also referred to as rearwardmotion. Therefore, movement of the vehicle-trailer system 100 includesmovement of the tow vehicle 102 along its transverse axis X_(V),fore-aft axis Y_(V), and central vertical axis Z_(V), and movement ofthe trailer 106 along its trailer transverse axis X_(T), trailerfore-aft axis Y_(T), and trailer central vertical axis Z_(T). Therefore,when the tow vehicle 102 makes a turn as it moves in the forwarddirection Fv, then the trailer 106 follows along. While turning, the towvehicle 102 and the trailer 106 form a trailer angle α being an anglebetween the vehicle fore-aft axis Y_(V) and the trailer fore-aft axisYr.

The tow vehicle 102 may include a user interface 120. The user interface120 may include a display 122, a knob, and a button, which are used asinput mechanisms. In some examples, the display 122 may show the knoband the button. While in other examples, the knob and the button are aknob button combination. In some examples, the user interface 120receives one or more driver commands from the driver via one or moreinput mechanisms or a touch screen display 122 and/or displays one ormore notifications to the driver. The user interface 120 is incommunication with a controller 140. In some examples, the display 122displays an image 133 of an environment of the tow vehicle 102 whichincludes the trailer articulation view 152 as shown in FIG. 6.

The tow vehicle 102 may include a sensor system 130 to provide reliableand robust driving. The sensor system 130 may include different types ofsensors that may be used separately or with one another to create aperception of the environment of the tow vehicle 102 and the trailer 106that is used for the tow vehicle 102 to drive and aid the driver in makeintelligent decisions based on objects and obstacles detected by thesensor system 130. The sensor system 130 may include the one or morecameras 132, 132 a-d supported by the vehicle-trailer system 100. Insome implementations, the tow vehicle 102 includes a rear vehicle camera132 a (i.e., a first camera) that is mounted to provide a view of arear-driving path for the tow vehicle 102, or in other words, the rearvehicle camera 132 a captures images 133 of a rear environment of thetow vehicle 102. Additionally, the sensor system 130 includes a trailerrear camera 132 b (i.e., a second camera) that is mounted to provide aview of a rear-driving path for the trailer 106, or in other words, therear trailer camera 132 b captures images 133 of a rear environment ofthe trailer 106. In some examples, the sensor system 130 also includesside trailer camera 132 c, 132 d (i.e., third camera and fourth camera)each mounted to provide a side images 133 of the side environment of thetrailer 106. In some examples, additional one or more cameras 132 arepositioned on a front of the tow vehicle 102 to capture aforward-driving path of the tow vehicle 102 and/or on the sides of thetow vehicle 102 to capture a side environment of the tow vehicle 102.

In some implementation, the rear vehicle camera 132 a, the rear trailercamera 132 b, and the side trailer cameras 132 c, 132 d include afisheye lens having an ultra-wide-angle lens that produces strong visualdistortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image.Fisheye cameras capture images having an extremely wide angle of view.Moreover, images captured by the fisheye camera have a characteristicconvex non-rectilinear appearance. Other types of cameras may also beused to capture the images 133.

The sensor system 130 may also include other sensors 134 that detect thevehicle motion, i.e., speed, angular speed, position, etc. The othersensors 134 may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured tomeasure the vehicle's linear acceleration (using one or moreaccelerometers) and rotational rate (using one or more gyroscopes). Insome examples, the IMU also determines a heading reference of the towvehicle 102. Therefore, the IMU determines the pitch, roll, and yaw ofthe tow vehicle 102. The other sensors 134 may also include, but are notlimited to, radar, sonar, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, which canentail optical remote sensing that measures properties of scatteredlight to find range and/or other information of a distant target), LADAR(Laser Detection and Ranging), ultrasonic, HFL (High Resolution 3D FlashLIDAR), etc. In some implementations, the sensor system 130 may provideexternal sensor data received from other systems or vehicles, such as byway of V2X communication or any other communication.

The controller 140 includes a computing device (or processor) 142 (e.g.,central processing unit having one or more computing processors) incommunication with non-transitory memory 144 (e.g., a hard disk, flashmemory, random-access memory) capable of storing instructions executableon the computing processor(s) 142. The controller may be supported bythe tow vehicle 102, the trailer 106, or both the tow vehicle 102 andthe trailer 106. In some examples, the controller 140 executes animaging system 150 that provides the driver of the tow vehicle 102 witha panoramic view 152 of the environment behind the trailer 106.

The imaging system 150 receives images 133 from one or more camera 132and provides a panoramic view 152 of the rear environment of the trailer106. The imaging system 150 solves the difficulties that the driverfaces when backing up the vehicle-trailer system 100 by showing apanoramic view 152 of the rear environment of the trailer 106 on thedisplay 122. The panoramic view 152 includes images 133 captured by therear trailer camera 132 b and the side trailer cameras 132 c, 132 d. Thepanoramic view 152 may be stitched to or overlain on an image 133 acaptured by the rear vehicle camera 132 a within a boundary 124 of atrailer representation 126 on the display 122 as shown in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 3, the imaging system 150 receives images 133, 133 bfrom the rear trailer camera 132 b (i.e., second camera), images 133,133 c from the right-side trailer camera 132 c, and images 133, 133 dfrom the left-side trailer camera 132 d. The imaging system 150 stitchesthe received images 133 b, 133 c, 133 d to create a panoramic view 152shown in FIG. 4. In some examples, the panoramic view 152 is displayedon the display 122. In other examples, the panoramic view 152 isdisplayed within the boundary 124 of the trailer representation 126 ofan image 133 a captured by the rear vehicle camera 132 a on the display122 as shown in FIG. 6. In other words, the display 122 shows the image133 a captured by the rear vehicle camera 132 a and projects thepanoramic view 152 onto a trailer body representation of the trailer 106within the image 133 a.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, in some implementations, the controller140 determines the trailer angle α based on sensor system data 131 fromthe sensor system 130. For example, the controller 140 determines thetrailer angle α based on one or more images 133 a received from the rearvehicle camera 132 a and/or images received from a camera positioned ona front portion of the trailer 106. Additionally or alternatively, thecontroller 140 may determine the trailer angle α based on sensor data134 received from one or more sensors 134 supported by the rear vehicleand/or the front portion of the trailer 106.

In some implementations, the imaging system 150 selects a viewing area154 of the panoramic view 152 for display based on the trailer angle α.For example, referring to FIG. 5A, when the tow vehicle 102 is moving ina straight direction (forward or backward), then the imaging system 150selects the viewing area 154 of the panoramic view 152 that includes theimage 133 b from the rear trailer camera 132 b and a section of each ofthe side images 133 c, 133 d captured by the side trailer cameras 132 c,132 d. Referring to FIG. 5B, when the tow vehicle 102 is turning towardsthe right (forward or backward direction), then the imaging system 150selects the viewing area 154 of the panoramic view 152 that includes theimage 133 c (or a section thereof) from the right-side trailer camera132 c and a section of the image 133 b from the rear trailer camera 132b. Similarly, when the tow vehicle 102 is turning towards the left(forward or backward direction), then the imaging system 150 selects theviewing area 154 of the panoramic view 152 that includes the image 133 d(or a section thereof) from the left-side trailer camera 132 d and asection of the image 133 b from the rear trailer camera 132 b. Theimaging system 150 utilizes the trailer angle α to scroll the panoramicview 154 and display a natural image or viewing area 154 to the driverwhile driving in reverse as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

In some implementations, the driver may adjust the viewing area 154displayed on the display 122 by way of the user input 120. Therefore,the driver may adjust the viewing area 154 shown in FIG. 5A to view moreof the image 133 c captured by the right-side trailer camera 132 c asshown in FIG. 5B. Other adjustments may also be possible.

FIG. 5 provides an example arrangement of operations for a method 700 ofproviding a panoramic view 152 of an environment behind a trailer 106 ofa vehicle-trailer system 100 shown in FIGS. 1A-6. At block 702, themethod 700 includes receiving, at data processing hardware 140, 142, afirst image 133, 133 b from a rear trailer camera 132, 132 b positionedon a rear portion of the trailer 106. The first image 133, 133 bcaptures a rearward environment of the trailer 106. At block 704, themethod 700 includes receiving, at the data processing hardware 140, 142,a second image 133, 133 c from a right-side trailer camera 132, 132 cpositioned on a right-side portion of the trailer 106. The second image133, 133 c captures a right-side environment of the trailer 106. Atblock 706, the method 700 includes receiving, at the data processinghardware 140, 142, a third image 133, 133 d from a left-side trailercamera 132, 132 d positioned on a left-side portion of the trailer 106.The third image 133, 133 c captures a left-side environment of thetrailer 106. At block 708, the method 700 includes determining, at thedata processing hardware 140, 142, a panoramic view 152 based on thefirst image 133, 133 b, the second image 133, 133 c, and the third image133, 133 d. In some examples, the method 700 determines the panoramicview 152 by stitching the first image 133, 133 b, the second image 133,133 c, and the third image 133, 133 d. Other methods of determining thepanoramic view may also be used. At block 710, the method 700 includesdetermining, at the data processing hardware 140, 142, a trailer angle αbased on sensor system data 131 received from a sensor system 130. Thetrailer angle α being an angle between a vehicle fore-aft axis Y_(V) anda trailer fore-aft axis Y_(T). At block 712, the method 700 includesdetermining, at the data processing hardware 140, 142, a viewing area154 within the panoramic view 152 based on the trailer angle α. At block714, the method 700 includes sending, from the data processing hardware140, 142 to a display 122 in communication with the data processinghardware 140, 142, instructions 156 to display the viewing area 154.

In some implementations, the method 700 also includes receiving a fourthimage 133, 133 a from a rear vehicle camera 132, 132 a positioned on arear portion of a vehicle 102 of the vehicle-trailer system 100. Thefourth image 133, 133 a captures and includes a trailer representation126 of the trailer 106. The method 700 may also include projecting thepanoramic view 152 or the viewing area 154 of the panoramic view 152within a boundary 124 of the trailer representation 126 of the fourthimage 133, 133 a. Therefore, in some examples, the instructions 156 todisplay the viewing area 154 of the panoramic view 152 includedisplaying the viewing area 154 of the panoramic view 152 within theboundary 124 of the trailer representation 126 of the fourth image 133,133 a.

In some examples, the rear trailer camera 132, 132 b, the right-sidetrailer camera 132, 132 c, the left-side trailer camera 132, 132 d, andthe rear vehicle camera 132, 132 a each include a fisheye lens. Thecamera 132 may include other types of cameras 132.

In some implementations, the method 700 also includes receiving a driverinput via a user interface 120 and adjusting the viewing area 154 of thepanoramic view 152 displayed on the display 122 based on the driverinput. The method 700 may include receiving a driver input via a userinterface 120 indicative of a driver request to view the panoramic view152 and adjusting the viewing area 154 to include the panoramic view 152based on the driver input.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and“computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Moreover,subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as oneor more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computerprogram instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for executionby, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. Thecomputer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, amachine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition ofmatter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combinationof one or more of them. The terms “data processing apparatus”,“computing device” and “computing processor” encompass all apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates anexecution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., codethat constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, or a combination of one or moreof them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g.,a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal thatis generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiverapparatus.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multi-tasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of determining a panoramic view (152) ofan environment behind a trailer (106) of a vehicle-trailer system (100),the method comprising: receiving, at data processing hardware (140,142), a first image (133, 133 b) from a rear trailer camera (132, 132 b)positioned on a rear portion of the trailer (106); receiving, at thedata processing hardware (140, 142), a second image (133, 133 c) from aright-side trailer camera (132, 132 c) positioned on a right-sideportion of the trailer (106); receiving, at the data processing hardware(140, 142), a third image (133, 133 d) from a left-side trailer camera(132, 132 d) positioned on a left-side portion of the trailer (106);determining, at the data processing hardware (140, 142), a panoramicview (152) based on the first image (133, 133 b), the second image (133,133 c), and the third image (133, 133 d); determining, at the dataprocessing hardware (140, 142), a trailer angle (α) based on sensorsystem data (131) received from a sensor system (130); determining, atthe data processing hardware (140, 142), a viewing area (154) within thepanoramic view (152) based on the trailer angle (α); and sending, fromthe data processing hardware (140, 142) to a display (122) incommunication with the data processing hardware (140, 142), instructions(156) to display the viewing area (154).
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein determining the panoramic view (152) based on the first image(133, 133 b), the second image (133, 133 c), and the third image (133,133 d) comprises: stitching the first image (133, 133 b), the secondimage (133, 133 c), and the third image (133, 133 d).
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving a fourth image (133, 133 a) froma rear vehicle camera (132, 132 a) positioned on a rear portion of avehicle (102) of the vehicle-trailer system (100), the fourth image(133, 133 a) including a trailer representation (126) of the trailer(106); and projecting the panoramic view (152) or the viewing area (154)of the panoramic view (152) within a boundary (124) of the trailerrepresentation (126) of the fourth image (133, 133 a).
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the instructions (156) to display the viewing area(154) of the panoramic view (152) include displaying the viewing area(154) of the panoramic view (152) within the boundary (124) of thetrailer representation (126) of the fourth image (133, 133 a).
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the rear trailer camera (132, 132 b), theright-side trailer camera (132, 132 c), the left-side trailer camera(132, 132 d) each include a fisheye lens.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a driver input via a user interface (120);and adjusting the viewing area (154) of the panoramic view (152)displayed on the display (122) based on the driver input.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving a driver input via a userinterface (120) indicative of a driver request to view the panoramicview (152); and adjusting the viewing area (154) to include thepanoramic view (152) based on the driver input.
 8. A system forproviding a panoramic view (152) of an environment behind a trailer(106) of a vehicle-trailer system (100), the system comprising: adisplay (122); data processing hardware in communication with thedisplay; memory hardware in communication with the data processinghardware, the memory hardware storing instructions that when executed onthe data processing hardware cause the data processing hardware toperform operations comprising: receiving a first image (133, 133 b) froma rear trailer camera (132, 132 b) positioned on a rear portion of thetrailer (106); receiving a second image (133, 133 c) from a right-sidetrailer camera (132, 132 c) positioned on a right-side portion of thetrailer (106); receiving a third image (133, 133 d) from a left-sidetrailer camera (132, 132 d) positioned on a left-side portion of thetrailer (106); determining a panoramic view (152) based on the firstimage (133, 133 b), the second image (133, 133 c), and the third image(133, 133 d); determining a trailer angle (α) based on sensor systemdata (131) received from a sensor system (130); determining a viewingarea (154) within the panoramic view (152) based on the trailer angle(α); and sending instructions (156) to the display (122) to display theviewing area (154).
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein determining thepanoramic view (152) based on the first image (133, 133 b), the secondimage (133, 133 c), and the third image (133, 133 d) comprises:stitching the first image (133, 133 b), the second image (133, 133 c),and the third image (133, 133 d).
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving a fourth image (133, 133 a) froma rear vehicle camera (132, 132 a) positioned on a rear portion of avehicle (102) of the vehicle-trailer system (100), the fourth image(133, 133 a) including a trailer representation (126) of the trailer(106); and projecting the panoramic view (152) or the viewing area (154)of the panoramic view (152) within a boundary (124) of the trailerrepresentation (126) of the fourth image (133, 133 a).
 11. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the instructions (156) to display the viewing area(154) of the panoramic view (152) include displaying the viewing area(154) of the panoramic view (152) within the boundary (124) of thetrailer representation (126) of the fourth image (133, 133 a).
 12. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the rear trailer camera (132, 132 b), theright-side trailer camera (132, 132 c), the left-side trailer camera(132, 132 d) each include a fisheye lens.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a driver input via auser interface (120); and adjusting the viewing area (154) of thepanoramic view (152) displayed on the display (122) based on the driverinput.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving a driver input via a user interface (120) indicativeof a driver request to view the panoramic view (152); and adjusting theviewing area (154) to include the panoramic view (152) based on thedriver input.